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Bike Lane SymbolMP who opposes cycle lanes says cyclists should be forced to ride in ... cycle lanes
A Conservative MP who earlier this year called for money set aside for cycling by Southampton City Council, including building cycle lanes, to be diverted to other uses has said that cyclists should be forced to ride in … cycle lanes.
Royston Smith, who represents Southampton Itchen, made his comments in response to the death on Monday of a 64-year-old cyclist following a collision involving an HGV on the city’s Portsmouth Road.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, Smith – who has a parliamentary majority of just 31, the fifth smallest in the UK – insisted that cyclists exposed themselves to greater danger by choosing to ride their bikes on main roads.
He said: “The risk factor involved when cyclists use busy roads is greater compared to using country lanes.”
That’s not supported by official statistics, however, with around half of cyclist fatalities in 2016 taking place on rural roads, according to the Department for Transport.
“Sometimes cyclists must use their judgement and try and stick to routes that have cycle lanes on them,” Smith continued.
“Some roads have been made and improved to ensure cycle access is better and the roads are wider, but we have to acknowledge that it’s dangerous for cyclists on certain roads and that they may need to consider when and where they cycle.
“The cycling lobby won’t like this but we have to do something to make the roads safer,” he added.
“We’re moving towards fewer cars on the roads and getting towards automated car improvement, but as of today there are 35 million registered cars on our roads.
“Until this gets lower, considerations need to be made.”
Describing the MP’s comments as “nonsense,” Colin Macqueen, co-founder of Clean Air Southampton, said: “A bicycle is a vehicle on the road, not causing the problem. Bad driving is the root of the problem.
“There have been five deaths in and around Southampton, with some occurring on quiet country lanes in the New Forest.
“Mr Smith says cyclists shouldn’t use busy roads, but two people died on those quiet roads which were caused by bad driving.”
The MP is a former leader of Southampton City Council, which is now Labour-controlled and, as Carlton Reid points out on BikeBiz, earlier this year called for £11.5 million in grant funding for the city’s cycling strategy to be diverted elsewhere.
Reid also notes that between 1993 and 2003, Smith owned a bike shop, Triangle Cycles, in the South Coast City.
Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s Head of Campaigns and Advocacy, told road.cc: “It seems clear Mr Smith has never met with anyone who campaigns for improvements for cycling, as no campaigner would dispute more needs to be done to make the roads safer.
“Rather than placing the blame for the injuries and fatalities on people cycling, the Southampton Itchen MP would be far better to address the causes, namely: dangerous road design, dangerous drivers and dangerous vehicles. Directing his energy towards these would make for safer roads for everyone,” he continued.
“Southampton City Council realises more needs to be done to make the roads safer and better for cycling, and Cycling UK would urge Mr Smith to support their work rather than hindering it by making ill-judged comments such as those reported by the Daily Echo.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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24 comments
I disagree with what he said, particularly someone in his position saying it, even more so given the circumstance. But (unpopular opinions alert):
Smith isn't actually anti-cycling.
This sort of outrage isn't helping.
All he said was something the likes of which we have all heard from hardcore cyclists before. He didn't say or do anything truly anti-cycling. He backed spending more money on tower block safety than on "kitchen refits and cycle paths", which seems to have been extrapolated into him being anti-cycle lanes when it seems like very specific comment on money that was to to be spent on tower blocks. He's for low emmisions and autonomous cars. He actually pictured a world with less cars. It seems likely he actually wants to see more investment in cycle lanes in Southhampton, but it's unclear.
I don't know much about him outside of googling him for fifteen minutes, so maybe I'm wrong. And surely on other issues it is more than fair to have a right go at him, of course. But on cycling seeing someone like Smith as a vicious enemy instead of a potential friend might be wildly counterproductive, IMHO.
I don't see that question proves that he wants more investment in cycle lanes. It could just as well be he wants to know the figure so he can complain that it's too high. Or that he just wants to spin it locally as generous no matter how low it is. Or that he want to be sure the funds are coming from central government and not from his constituents' council tax. Who knows?
And, given his general voting-record:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25345/royston_smith/southampton%2C_itc...
I struggle to see him wanting significant government money spent on facilitating cycling. He doesn't want it spent on trains or public transport, nor does he favour any increases in taxes on motoring.
So from that, my working assumption has to be he's a standard-issue Tory who is very happy for private cars to continue to dominate our streets and to continue imposing costs on others. If you are saying he's not in favour of that status quo, then surely the onus is on you to point to something he's said or done to try and change it?
No, it's not. This this story made him out to be anti-cycling, as in, much worse than the status quo, when he seems to be if anything somewhat better.
He literally said "We’re moving towards fewer cars on the roads and getting towards automated car improvement, but as of today there are 35 million registered cars on our roads."
He also made a statement where he stated: "If my comments about cycling safety have offended some cyclists there is little I can do about that, but conflating the lack of cycle provision with any of my comments about keeping safe does nothing to further the cause."
Notice the "lack of a cycling provision".
Scrolling down his twitter cycling is clearly not a priority for him but low emissions and "road safety" and particularly autonomous cars seem to be on his radar. So he does seem like someone who can be persuaded to vote for an expanded cycling provision. Maybe some of the outrage will help towards that (and again, I don't agree with what he said, particularly given the context). But the death wishes and the misconstruing of his statements probably won't.
I'm still entirely unconvinced. If someone is happy with the status quo then they are anti-cycling. That goes double for a Tory, as supporting things as they are is in the nature of conservatism.
There are some contrary trends among Tories, sure, e.g. the neo-classical free-market types who at least recognise that driving is subsidised, where one might find some points of agreement over things like congestion charging or a removal of free on-street parking (even that's only a very limited point of agreement, and that seems to be more the American libertarian-leaning right).
Or the really old-school types who look so far nostalgically backwards that they still regard the car as a new-fangled invention or who have a conservative form of environmentalist instincts because they value England's 'Green and pleasant land' (off-hand I can only think of Peter Hitchens in that category)
And while both of those can be on the right side, they also have a tendency to give ammunition to populist anti-cycliing types - who want to paint it as an indulgence for the elites - by ignoring issues relating to income and wealth, so they are of limited help.
But most Tories manage to combine being in favour of market solutions for public transport and anything else used by the less-well-off (as this guy clearly does) while turning into 'free at the point of use' socialists when it comes to private motoring.
PS I didn't notice 'death wishes', but I agree that's going too far.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
Sadly, he's typical of the self-serving, hypocritical set that seem to have proliferated in the Tories in recent times. I've never been a Tory voter but I do think the party is missing a lot with its current generation of MPs and I don't think the likes of Michael Heseltine, Ken Clarke or Malcolm Rifkind would ever have uttered anything quite so stupid.
“We’re moving towards fewer cars on the roads and getting towards automated car improvement, but as of today there are 35 million registered cars on our roads.
“Until this gets lower, considerations need to be made.”
... Completely missing the point that every journey made by bike is one not made by car.
No! No! No! You're completely missing the point! The way to reduce congestion is not to get plebs onto bikes. It's to make them walk everywhere - or even better, go and live somewhere else - by making using the roads (by any means) and housing so expensive (or alternatively dangerous - might makes right!) that they just can't afford to (or don't dare to) get in the way of your Jaguar which, according to the adverts, will allow you to "rule the road".
And I'm not actually that left wing. This is just what this MP sounds like to me. It might make me more left wing.
“The cycling lobby won’t like this but we have to do something to make the roads safer,”
I suspect the cycling lobby would be quite keen on doing something to make the roads safer. However, this would involve actually doing something to make the roads safer. Given that it's motorists, not cyclists or pedestrians causing the vast majority of close calls, injuries and deaths to all road users, this could include:
Better thought out junctions, much harsher penalties for poor driving, presumed liability, banning drivers with driving convictions from working as professional drivers, more emphasis on sharing the road during license tests, greater enforcement of laws against using a mobile when driving, pursuing cases of careless/dangerous driving that are caught on film, even if they don't result in an injury, much harsher penalities for drivers who injure and kill through their carelessness, drivers who deliberately swipe cyclists and pedestrians to be treated as assault rather than a driving issue, etc.
....and not cyclists should stay off the road, because drivers can't be trusted. That's not making the roads safer, that's acknowledging that our roads are currently a bit of a shitshow.
And that's before we even get into the whole 'cyclist should stick to cycle lanes, which I oppose' stuff.
What a colossal bellend.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9381144.Council_leader_fined_for_driving...
And he DARES blame road danger on cyclists? Has this weasel no shame?
If I were the relatives of the deceased, I think I'd demand a meeting with him, and bring along the media.
This close pass happened today at the spot where the collision occurred on Monday... https://youtu.be/QhqYI4dmk0k
So close to being two in three days.
Context, road is narrow for next half mile with a ped crossing and a set of 4-way lights, always traffic, zero point in overtaking at that speed
Stop buying anything but the necessities. Stop buying from anywhere bar sustainable companies. BOYCOTT THE TORY ECONOMY.
Blimey! That's a tad extreme...
No it is not. Our country is being dismantled in favour of an unsustainable, unequal model. Do something.
I'm not sure it's ever been built on an equal, sustainable model. Certainly not for at least 35 years!
Then like, you know, stop adding to it
Royston Smith is a self-serving bell-end who's been up to no good for a long time (least active MP, helped UKIP target Labour in Southampton etc...). Shouldn't be given any air time as far as I'm concerned .
I hope there is an inquest done by a coroner with a big a pair of balls; who has the courage to say that the council and MPs knew of the inadequate infrastructure and are culpable by their lack of action. If a road is unsafe close it to the most dangerous vehicles not the most vulnerable.
Arh so might is right, if his family is wiped by a txting hgv driver it’s there own silly fault for being the way, road are dangerous after all perhaps they should have considered there route better.
Here's hoping there's a snap election early in the new year so we can get rid of him. The only reason he got in this time was because it's a three-way marginal and the Lib Dems/Labour couldn't agree who should stand aside to encourage tactical voting. Gutted to hear he owned Triangle Cycles, have shopped there in the past. Typical provincial Tory with ideas of grandeur, few years back he claimed to have wrestled a rifle out of the hands of a submariner who'd murdered two crewmates
I hope he never walks in front of me because that walking will all of a sudden be extremely dangerous and he should have just stayed indoors because cunts shouldn't walk on certain busy footways and not expect to get hurt.
Just your perfectly normal tory hypocrite, nothing unusual here.
"........but we have to acknowledge that it’s dangerous for cyclists on certain roads and that they may need to consider when and where they cycle.
“The cycling lobby won’t like this but we have to do something to make the roads safer,”
And in classic tory petrolhead fashion, he blames the cyclists. Never mind that it is the drivers who are dangerous, and the local authority designed and constructed the roads badly, it's all the cyclists' fault. The cycling lobby would love it if you made the roads safe, but judging by your actions of voting against cycle provision and your government's pathetic Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, you have absolutely no intention of doing that.
My favourite new word for this government is "Bumblefest". ably demonstrated by this waste of oxygen.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas Mr Smith.
I hope that explaining your position to the victim of the Southampton accident's family while trying to pick up political sympathy for yourself wasn't too traumatic for you.
Merry fucking Christmas!
I have an MP with a 45 majority. He has learnt to keep his mouth shut on certain issues.